1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramic electronic component.
2. Related Background Art
Ceramic electronic components such as a monolithic ceramic chip capacitor (MLCC) having a ceramic body and a terminal electrode on its end surface are used for various electronic devices. Recently, the demand for smaller and higher capacity ceramic electronic components has been growing to meet the increasing needs of downsizing and high performance of electronic devices.
A terminal electrode provided on a ceramic electronic component usually includes a base electrode layer and an upper electrode layer formed on the base electrode layer. The base electrode layer is usually provided by a baked electrode layer formed by applying a conductive paste containing powder of noble metal such as silver and palladium, or powder of base metal such as copper and nickel, and a glass frit to a ceramic body and baking it. Electroplating is usually applied to the baked electrode layer, so that a plating layer is provided as the upper electrode layer.
Since the plating process is used for forming the upper electrode layer as described above, the baked electrode layer is required to have the property that the plating layer can be easily formed. For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-243245) discloses that, in order to form a uniform metal plating layer on a surface of a baked electrode layer, the baked electrode layer is formed by baking a conductive paste containing a metal component and a glass component and is covered with a coat layer formed using a material that does not contain a glass component.